Dark Future
by H.Kage09
Summary: AU 15 years ago, Jeremie and Aelita died. So the supercomputer was shut down. 15 years later, a boy travels to Kadic to escape his strange and haunted past. But what he finds here is so much more then he expected. OCxOC JxAIn later chapters
1. Prologue Parts 1 and 2

-1**Well, I'm back. I've decided to put Code: Oblivion on hiatus for a while since I know I want to remake it, but I'm not sure how I want to do that just yet. So in the mean time, I've come up with another story. Again, it delves into my more creative side and takes a turn that few people have tried. What's funny is this story came about by listening to Linkin Park(Second favorite band). I won't forget about this one like I did for a few months with Xana's ReBirth(No, I'm not putting that on hiatus). I've actually toyed with this one quite a bit, and it uses my second OC, Xande. He will only be in this story, because his past is very different to Yami's. While he does……umm, I have a summary of his life in the prologue so you can read it there. Anyway, so not to draw this thing out, I'll start the story now.**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code: Lyoko or anything affiliated with it. I do however own Xande, and the 2-3 other OC's I create(again, all OC's in this story will be native to this story).

**Darkness of a Boy's Heart**

**Prologue Part 1-Fallen**

**Odd's POV**

It all happened so fast that day. It started normal at first, of course. I woke up, did my normal routine, and had a nice large breakfast. But that's when things got strange. While we were on our way to class, Jeremie suddenly complained about a pain in his neck, back, and a major headache. So Aelita volunteered to take him to the infirmary. I'm not entirely sure of what happened during their trip, but what I do know is that our day just went from different to dangerous. See, on an almost daily basis, we fought an evil sentient, that's Jeremie's word for it, computer AI named Xana that went rouge. This is what went wrong.

See, about three months ago, Xana possessed our friend that we brought to Lyoko, the virtual world we fought Xana on, since we had needed more people on our team. And using William, he destroyed the Core of Lyoko. We had originally thought that Xana had won, until Aelita's father, Franz Hopper(creator of the supercomputer, Lyoko, and Xana himself) contacted us via the internet. He had survived the destruction of Lyoko! According to Jeremie, it contained blueprints to remake Sector 5 of Lyoko, which held the Core of Lyoko. But William was now permanently possessed by Xana. It was hard to fix that problem, but we did it. Eventually, all of Lyoko was recreated.

Then Jeremie and Aelita create the "Skidbladnir". The vehicle that would allow us to literally take the fight directly to Xana. And that lasted for about a month. That's were my story continues. Xana had managed to materialize William again, but with all of his Lyoko power intact. He attacked them on their way to the infirmary, and Jeremie was severely injured. We managed to get him to Lyoko, since the scanners seemed to heal most internal and external injuries. It worked, but the damage carried over to Lyoko. His life points were already at 65, and he was weakened. That's where all hell broke loose. Ulrich and I had gone to Lyoko with him, followed by Aelita and Yumi. While we tried to get to the Skidbladnir in Sector 5, it turned out that the William in the real world was a polymorphic clone. The real one was waiting for us. We managed to get into the Skid, but Ulrich was devirtualized and sent back to Earth. We traveled into the digital sea to go to the Lyoko Replika that Xana had created so that we could deactivate the tower that was there before anymore damage was done. I stupidly made a remark about wondering if things could get any worse. I kicked myself very hard later for saying that. Because it did.

When we got to the Replika, everything seemed fine. It wasn't. William had chased us in his ship there. Normally that wasn't a problem, cause he always did that. But what went wrong was **after** we deactivated the tower. We though we had defeated William for the time being. Wrong again, we were. William came out of nowhere and devirtualized both me and Yumi. That was the worst possible situation since there were also 5 tarantulas and 3 mantas(not including the Black Manta that William got around on). Aelita was strong, and resourceful. And Jeremie, while he couldn't fight well, could defend himself with the powers he had. Pure defense, he had made his new outfit. It helped, but in the end, his defense fell. It left Aelita and the weakened Jeremie to face the 8 monsters and William. I heard Jeremie wear at himself for not adding anything that could attack. William decided to go after Aelita first, though. The monsters just sat(in the Tarantula's cases, literally) there, as if waiting for something.

But this was the worst thing that happened. William had hit Aelita, while she was flying with the Angelic Wings Jeremie had programmed for her(yeah, they were in love, just like Ulrich and Yumi. I loved goading them about it), with the broad side of his zanbato. What made this bad is that she had to much momentum when she was hit. The blow threw her to the ground and she went tumbling. She ended up getting right to edge of the Replika's Forest sector. William, or rather, Xana, just wasn't happy with simple devirtualization, he wanted to get rid of her permanently. But he also wanted to get rid of Jeremie. So he almost literally killed to love birds with one stone. He kicked Aelita over the edge.

When someone falls into the digital sea, they get permanently virtualized. Only once has someone escaped that dang sea. Jeremie, now completely enraged, threw himself at William, carrying them both over the edge after Aelita. William tried to escape the fate that Aelita and Jeremie were doomed to have, but the Black Manta never made it in time. At the last second, Jeremie's falling body caught up with Aelita's, and from what we saw in the camera that Jeremie had made, the embraced each other right when the hit the sea. We permanently lost Jeremie, Aelita, and William all within a few seconds. And all because of that damn AI! Once we realized that we knew no one skilled enough with computers, we had to do what we feared we would have to do right when we realized that Jeremie and Aelita were gone. Yumi was crying by now, I was close to it, and Ulrich, who only cried over Yumi, was close to it as well. We ended up all turning off the super computer at once.

When we returned to school, everyone was wondering where we were and where Jeremie, Aelita, and William(the clone Jeremie had made) were. It seems that Xana was able to kill the tower that was holding him together. But when we got back up to the lab, we saw the "Activated Tower" for a second as Lyoko powered down. Jeremie had managed to connect the Replika to Lyoko's power source. So it shut down as well. It troubled us, but we had worse things to deal with then a mysterious tower. The cops interrogated us all about the trio's whereabouts. We didn't tell them, but we felt the need to at least tell Jeremie and William's parents. They almost killed Ulrich, but never said a word to anyone. I used to be a happy-go-lucky guy, but that day, my entire life was killed. All because of a dang computer AI! We split up completely soon after. Yumi and her family moved back to Japan to avoid the police, Ulrich's parents took him out of Kadic and moved him closer to home. As for me, I stayed in school and finished the best I could in memory of Jeremie and Aelita. I passed with almost a one hundred percent. We made graves near the factory that the super computer was stored in for the three. I visited them once a week. My life became monotone and boring. I stayed out of college, just because I just couldn't get into it after I left Kadic. I wanted to stay near the graves, to be sure nothing happened to them.

The police never found any bodies, and all charges were dropped completely. In the eyes of the public, Jeremie, Aelita, and William faded into history as an unsolved murder. I eventually bought the factory from the city, and kept anyone from demolishing it. I wish I could've brought them back, but I just wasn't good enough to use the super computer, so I never tried. To this day, I wish I could see them again, even if it was just one last time. But they were gone, forever, and nothing could bring them back. Not. One. Thing.

­­­­­

**Darkness of a Boy's Heart**

**Prologue Part 2- Boy with a Dark Past**

**(OC's POV)**

I've often wondered why I'm here. Who my parents were. Where I came from. All I know about the subject of my past is that it's not a pretty one. I've never known my parents, not even an family members. I was taken care of in an orphanage for about 7 years before they kicked me out onto the streets of Beauvais, France. I had to fend for myself after that. I later found out why they kicked me out. They were sick of the publicity.

See, it was the strangest thing about my past. I knew my birthdate. And every year, on my birthday, I would disappear for three hours. Only ever three for some reason. But when I returned, I couldn't remember what happened during those three hours. After I could understand what people were saying, I found out why it was so strange. Every night, on my birthday, someone would turn up dead somewhere in the city. At first, people thought it merely coincidence. Because how could I ,a little child, kill a fully grown man?

After they started asking me questions about it, questions I could never answer nor did they find any evidence that it was me who killed on the night of every birthday I had, I sort-of withdrew into myself. Everyone talked, laughed, and mocked me behind my back. Adults, teens, children, it didn't matter who they were. They were always ready to mock me. And I knew it had something to do with my features.

I have naturally crimson hair, which everyone found weird. And my eyes sometimes changed colors. On my birthday, when I would wake up, they would be a bloody red color. But any other day, they were a deep purple. I found it strange, but I actually liked it. I eventually only spoke when absolutely necessary, for fear of yet more laughter directed towards me.

I wasn't lazy, no, I did what I was told. I had an abnormal ability to dash very well. It helped me out in many an occasion. But I had more strength then I should've had as well. But it wasn't too much more. But once they threw me out, I seemed to attract the worst kind of trouble, including the stinking Mafia! And I had no clue at the time. But another strange thing was by actual birthdate. The day I was found on the street near the orphanage. 3 teenagers went missing the day I was found. Normally, it would've been coincidence. But the three of them were part of a group of 6 teens. And they often disappeared, according to what I've researched. I sometimes wonder if they had something to do with my birth, but it didn't seem right.

So I went on being a natural loner. Until the day that I was attacked by a gang the day after my 15th birthday. I wasn't hurt badly because I was able to outrun them. But they had people all over the city, looking for me. Apparently they saw me kill one of their gang members. Another thing I had no recollection of the three hours.

So I decided that I had had enough of this city, it's glaring citizens, and gangs either trying to kill me or recruit me into them. I had little to my name, and one thing I had stolen from one of the gang members. It was an MP3 player that had nothing but songs by an older band called Linkin Park, and some songs by the SubDigitals. I spent a lot of time at the library both to recharge the thing and research more about those 3 teens. I found out that the other members of their group broke apart. But only one stayed near the site of where they supposedly disappeared near. I decided to go to the school they went to, just to find out if anyone there knew something of the event or of myself. I even looked for the owner of the factory that they had once gone too. I myself would bet that they went there a lot more often then everyone thought. But I never found him. He was often said to be at work or something. But right now, my main goal is to just try and fit in. Hopefully my reputation didn't follow me from my supposed birthplace. Because I kinda like it here……


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Well, I'm here with chapter 1 of Darkness of a Boy's Heart(Hereby refered to as DOABH). For those who request it, I have a prequel of the first part of the prologue. But because the story is already up, I'm not going to put it up. Just email it to those who want it. Well, since this is the first chapter, not really much to say here. And now, without further adieu, I shall start the story.**

* * *

**Darkness of a Boy's Heart  
Chapter 1: Arrival  
(ThirdPerson POV) **

A crimson-haired teen calmly walked towards the large campus of Kadic Academy. On his back was a small book bag containing a few supplies he would need for the year. He planned on hopefully getting a part-time job around the city to earn a little money for anything else he might have wanted. Another thing he had, one of his few possessions, was an mp3 player with a few CD's worth of songs on it. The player wasn't technically his though, he had stolen it from a gang that had jumped him where he used to live.

The teen looked at the gate that led to the campus. It seems Kadic was one of the few places in France that hadn't been hit during World War III. Nor had it been upgraded very much. The computers were still about 5-6 years old. Compared to most computers, they were horribly slow. But, in actuality, they were quite fast.

He turned down the volume on the mp3 player and walked through the open gate and into the campus, heading toward what looked to me the main administration building. He saw a man walking around the campus, and the man looked at him and shouted.

"Hey you, stop right there!" The man shouted while running over to the teen. The teen sighed, then stopped and looked at the aging man.

"What do you want?" The teen asked, clearly annoyed.

"Who are you? Because I know everyone who goes here, and I have never seen you around here before." The man asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the teen.

"My name is Xande Saishoate(look in my profile for the pronunciation of this), I'm a new student here. And I'm also going to the administration building to tell the principle that I'm here." Xande explained curtly, wanting to go to his dorm as soon as he could to go to sleep.

"New student, eh? Well then, I'll escort you to the office. I don't like random people walking around here." The man said, grabbing Xande's shoulder and pushing him towards a building.

"I know how to walk by myself, thanks." Xande muttered, shrugging out of the man's grip.

"Well, if you try running, I **will** catch you. After all, I was once a sprinting champion, you know." The man proclaimed proudly.

"Mhmm, the key word is probably _once_." Xande muttered under his breath, following the man.

"What was that?" The man asked, looking down at him.

"Nothing." Xande said, resisting the urge to glare at the man. After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the administration building.

"Now behave yourself, and the principle will explain the rules to you. Once she's done and you find out what your dorm number is, come back out here and I'll show you to it." The man said, opening the door. Xande walked in and sighed.

"Well, at least he didn't hit me." Xande muttered, before walking down a hall towards a door marked "Main Office". He knocked twice and waited before hearing a voice.

"Come in."

He opened the door and walked into the room with a look of cold indifference.

"Hmm, I don't think I know you. Do you have an appointment?" A red haired woman sitting behind a desk asked, looking at him.

"Yes, I do. I'm a new student here." Xande said, stashing his mp3 player in his coat pocket.

"Oh! You must be Xande! Hold on, lemme just inform the principle of your arrival." She typed something on the computer next to her and waited. A soft chime broke the silence and they woman looked back at Xande. "You may go in now, Xande."

Xande nodded at her and walked to the other door to his left. He drew in a breath, and twisted the handle. Xande pushed open the door and walked into the room to see a lady signing a paper. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Ah, hello Xande. I was expecting you to come tomorrow morning, not tonight." She said, pushing the papers to the side and folding her hands on her desk. "Please, take seat."

"I arrived a bit early, sorry." Xande said, sitting down.

"It's no problem, it actually makes things a lot easier. See, this way, we can get someone to show you where your classes are, and you can get settled in." She said. "But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth Delmas, but you are to call me Miss. Delmas or Principle Delmas."

"Alright, anything else I should know? By the way, who's that guy in the red jacket and brown pants? He was the one who showed me here."

"Oh, that's Jim Morales, the caretaker of the grounds. He'll show you to your dorm. I just gotta see which are open still. I believe that there is one left." She said, opening a filing cabinet and pulling out a folder marked "Dormitories".

Xande raised his left eyebrow, amazed that there was actually a **folder** for it. Why wasn't it on a computer? 'Strange' Xande thought.

"Oh no….." He heard her mutter, looking at what looked like a map. Xande kept his eyebrow raised.

"What are you oh-noing?" He asked.

"It's the last…dorm room available. A lot of people think it's cursed because of what…happened about 15 years ago." She said sadly.

What she said startled Xande. _"15 years again. What is it that happened. And what does this dorm have to do with it? I must find out!"_ He thought.

"Cursed or not, if it's the last one, then I'll take it. Maybe I can prove it isn't cursed." Xande said, still lost in thought.

"Well, if you insist, I guess I won't stop you. Just….be careful in that room, okay?" She said, then pulling out another folder marked with his name. "They must really like paper stuff here." He thought.

"Now then, for what classes you will have, I have list here. I recommend holding on to it for a few days, just until you know your classes by heart." She explained, handing a sheet of paper to me.

"Heh, alright. Anything else I need?" He said, now really wanting to get to bed. He hadn't slept in an actual bed for quite a long time, and he was seriously looking foreword to it.

"Nope. And if you need any help finding your classes, I'm sure one of the students will be happy to help." She said, now smiling again. But it was clear something was bothering Xande.

"Mhmm. Well, see ya." Xande said, smirking.

"Alright. Just tell Jim what dorm number you have, and he'll take you there. And welcome to Kadic." She said, standing up as well. As Xande opened the door and left, he saw her shiver slightly. The secretary nodding towards me, smiling. "Urg, too much happiness in here." Xande nodded back, but had a look of indifference again. As he walked out, he saw the aging man leaning against the wall.

"Well, that didn't take long." He said, grinning.

"Obviously not. My dorm room is 212." Xande said, looking around once they were outside.

"Wha.what!? Why that room!? Does she not remember who was in there before!? I mean, sure, she put **Natsumi **in her room. But it was that last one left at the time….." Jim spluttered, obviously irked about Xande's dorm room.

"Well, according to the principal, that dorm is the last one left as well." Xande said darkly.

Jim sighed deeply and shook his head.

"I just know this is a bad idea. But, I guess I don't have a say in the matter. Come on, I'll show you where it is." He said, grabbing Xande's shoulder again. Xande followed and didn't pull out of his grasp, but growled softly. "I'm starting to not like this guy…"

After about 10 minutes of walking, the two arrived at Xande's new dorm. Xande raised an eyebrow at seeing the plain, wooden door.

"Well, here you are. But if I were you, I'd rather sleep outside then in there." Jim commented, finally letting go of Xande.

"Well, you're not me and I've slept outside enough." He muttered darkly, before grabbing the handle and opening the door. Upon looking in it, Xande noticed a fine layer of dust on everything. _"Dusty. Probably hasn't been used in a while."_ Xande thought. _"And who was that Natsumi girl he mentioned. And who is she?"_

Xande ignored the thought as he walked into the room and dropped his small bag on the bed. A small plume of dust flew off in protest, causing Xande to glare slightly. He looked back at Jim with a raised eyebrow.

"Just be careful, would ya. We lost them already, we don't need to lose more students." Jim said softly, his face grave. He turned down the hall, and Xande heard his footsteps go down to a door.  
_  
"Hmm, guess tomorrow's another day. I'll find out more about who those two they mention are….."_ Xande thought, before beginning to sweep the dust off of everything. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something he wanted was nearby…


	3. Never Anger a Demon P1

**Hehheh, well I finally got a schedule for when to write my fanfiction's. So, starting when I upload this, I'll hopefully have a chapter of Xana's ReBirth within 2 weeks. Then after that, I'll update this, and I'll alternate between the two. Anyway, I'm doing a new POV in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko or anything affiliated with it. I do however own Xande Saishoate, the OC introduced in this chapter, and a few other things that I won't mention just yet for plot reasons. Also, please note that I do not intend to insult anyone who is Japanese in this fiction. **

**Darkness of a Boy's Heart**

**Chapter 2: Never Anger a Demon, Part I**

**(Third Person POV)**

A blond girl shifted around in her bed, mumbling as her alarm clock blared. Groaning, she sat up and slammed her fist onto the desk next to her bed, turning off the alarm.

"Urg...morning already? I want to go back to sleep." She muttered, swinging her legs off her bed and standing up. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the small alarm-clock. It was roughly an hour and a half before class would start. Meaning she had about an hour to get dressed. And that left half an hour for her to eat breakfast, and get to class.

"Well, that's one perk of being unpopular. No friends means I can sleep in a little later. Even so..." She said, standing up and going over to the closet in her dorm room. Opening it, she looked at the contents.

"What should I wear today? Hmm..." She yawned and pulled out a pink sweater and a pair of blue jeans.

As she put the cloths on and grabbed her bookbag, she looked out the window to see it raining heavily. She sighed and walked out the door, locking it once she was out. Sighing, the girl started heading to the cafeteria.

As she walked towards the rectangular building, she noticed a crimson haired, teenage boy walking in the same direction.

"_Hmm, I heard there was a new boarder coming. Wonder if that's him...?"_ She thought, looking at him. She also saw a particular group of students approaching her quickly. "Oh great, not them again..." She groaned, turning back towards the cafeteria and speeding up slowly.

She kept glancing at them, making sure that they weren't too close. But they were also speeding up; much more then her.

"_I'll never make it without running. But my backpack is so heavy, I wouldn't be __**able **__to run." _She thought dejectedly. _"I can tell today's gonna be wonderful..."_

**(POV Change- Xande)**

I watched the small gang stealthily pursue a sky-blue haired girl. From the looks of things, they didn't like her. And she didn't like them. I glared slightly, tilting my path slightly. If it was a short walk, the adjustment would've done nothing. But I was going at a faster rate then them and it was still another minute of walking until any of us would arrive at the cafeteria. I've been beaten up by and seen enough people jumped by gangs to have an idea what they might do to her. Because three of them were obviously adults. I looked forward but glanced at them at regular intervals.

"_They've yet to notice me...Good." _I thought, annoyed. My first day, and a fight was already inevitable. But, though it was my first day here, I was not about to let some jackasses hurt someone. All I had to do was make sure I got in between the gang and the girl.

**(POV Change- OC unnamed as of yet)**

I was breathing heavily now, noticing it was their entire group. I should just make a break for it, but they would catch me in no time. And I wasn't close enough to the cafeteria for someone to help me. _"Screw it...I'm not going down this easily."_ I got ready to drop my bag and bolt for the double doors. I glanced at them again, wondering if the boy would do anything to help me. Last time this happened, the only reason I got away with only a few bruises was because a teacher had come out after seeing them. But that was near the Science Building. The boy was glaring at me now, and it scared me more. _"Don't tell me he's with them...please...just please don't say he is..." _I thought, terrified.

Quickly, I threw down my bag and started running for my life. I looked back and saw the entire group now chasing me. I yelled loudly and ran faster. I looked one last time and saw the crimson-haired boy running as well. But with the angle of his path, he would intercept them soon.

"Hey, get back here!"

"No use runnin'. You know you can't outrun us anyway!"

"Yeah, so just stop already. Save yourself the humiliation!"

I snorted at the last comment. _"Save myself the humiliation!? You must be joking, after what they tried last time..." _I thought, not paying attention to where I was running or the gang behind me.

"Ha! You're mine now!"

I jerked my head and looked back one last time. The one in the lead was about to catch me. _"It's all over..."_ I thought, forgetting about the boy. As he jumped to tackle me to the ground, a blur flew into my vision and smashed into the air-borne man along with a loud war-cry. I tripped over a large rock, and tumbled hard onto the ground.

"No..." I muttered softly, knowing what was going to come next. But when I heard arguing voices, I rolled over and watched a stupendous site. The crimson-haired teen was standing in front of me, a dagger in each hand.

"Bug off, if you know what's good for you, brat!" I heard one say. I think his name was John. I'll call him that anyway.

"Yeah, you're no match for all of us!" Steve shouted, the one in the front of the group. He seemed to hate me more then anyone else.

"Oh? You don't know me...do you?" The crimson-haired boy muttered to them, a strange mix of annoyance and amusement in his voice. He laughed softly, his laugh made me shiver. It sounded...not evil, but very close to it.

"Ha, you must be crazy to try taking us at once. I'll make you a deal, since you seem so sure of yourself. Fight me, one-on-one. You win, we leave. You lose, you die and the girl is ours." John said. I knew he was the strongest, no doubt. He was so burly, he made the boy look like a twig.

"Heh, I accept." The boy said, throwing down the daggers. John got in front of him and into a stance. The boy just stood there, stooped and with his arms hanging loosely. _"He's insane...he's gonna be destroyed by John..." _I thought in dismay. I tried to get up, but my body just wouldn't respond. I had to watch the boy get killed now...

"I'll give you the first move, brat. But first, tell me your name. It's been a while since I've challenged anyone like this and I want to know who it is I'm about to kill." John said cockily. The boy stood straight up now, flattening his hands and putting one behind his back and the other up in front of his face. All the while, he turned his body to the side.

"Xande." He said softly, before leaping with amazing speed at John. Within 10 seconds, John was already 3 feet back from where they started. And the teen, Xande, wasn't letting up. John couldn't block one attack!

"Who is he..." I said softly, shivering again. I closed my eyes as the rest of the gang started to close in on him. With one last roundhouse kick, he hit John into the group and knocking them all down.

"Wha-what the hell!? Who is this brat!?" Steve shouted, backing up slowly. He turned and ran, the rest of the gang following suit. John was out cold on the ground still though.

"Hrmpf. No. Challenge." He whispered, before turning to me. He had the strangest eyes, not to mention they were purple. He glared at me and I stifled the urge to yell for help again. I tried getting up again, and was finally able to get on my knees. I looked up at him, as if asking for help to get up. My knee hurt badly, but I would live. He moved his arm forward a little, and I grabbed it. Using it to pull myself up, I realized that my clothes were now muddy. _"Damn rain..."_

"Th..thank yo...you." I said softly, breathing heavily and watching him. I saw his eyes, and they held no contempt for me. "I...I'm Matsumoto. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu." I muttered, still breathing heavily, not realizing I was speaking my native tongue again.

"(You're Welcome.)" He said, letting go of my hand. I blinked, realizing he must know Japanese. I looked at where my fallen bag was and grabbed it. Suddenly I noticed just how little distance the entire chase took. It took only a little bit to grab my bag before I ran after Xande. "Wait up!" I shouted after him.

He glanced back at me a little and kept going, ignoring me. I furrowed my brow and ran faster. After a few seconds of running, I finally caught up with him. I walked next to him, though he paid no attention to me.

"Do you speak Japanese?" I asked, looking at him. I saw his eyes glance at me slightly before he answered:

"Hai." He muttered lowly and said nothing more, not even looking at me. Was he tired? Or annoyed? Or maybe it was both.

I looked away, confused. As I glanced at him one last time, he opened the door to the cafeteria and waited for me before letting it close. I sighed and went to get my food, watching as he simply choose an empty table and sat at it with his arms crossed. _"I can already tell today's going to be a __**wonderful**__ day." _I thought sarcastically. After grabbing a tray of food, I looked around for a place to sit. Once again, there was only one open table. Part of me cheered once I saw which it was, the other blanched. I'd have loved to sit at the same table as him, but the look on his face dictated otherwise.

So, plunking up every ounce of courage I had in my small body, I proceeded to walk towards the table. I'd **have** to sit they're no matter what, but I was going to **ask** first.

**(POV Change- Xande)**

I sat calmly at the table, watching her come closer out of the corner of my eye. She wanted to sit here. _"Rumor mill must not be as fast here. Whatever, she'll eventually decide to stay away from me like everyone else does. No big deal, nothing new. The sooner she leaves, the quieter it is for me..."_ I thought, but my mind betrayed me and half hoped she **wouldn't** stay away from me like the rest. It was surprising that she had nowhere else to sit, even I would admit she was pretty. But, not many of Japanese people were popular here, not after the war.

Finally, the pale girl came over to me and set her green eyes on me. She looked nervous. Great, first impression on her and I'm a killer. I bit down a laugh.

"Um...Xande, was it?" She asked softly, looking at me.

"Hm?" I grunted, not feeling like talking. Never was a talker, probably never will be.

"Um..may I..may I sit here?" She asked, something few people did until they knew me.

"Go right ahead, but you'll leave. Just like all the rest." I said, muttering the last part to myself. She tilted her head and smiled.

"Arigatou." She said nervously. She set her food down next to me along with her bag on the chair next to her and sat down. I grunted and pulled out my headphones, interested in the rumors going on around me. I could tell that at least fifteen people were staring at me. The girl, Natsumi, just dug into her food as if it was her first meal in days.

Plugging the headphones into my ears, I smirked. At first glance, they would seem like ordinary headphones. But I made it so that the sound was tuned to my ears only. No one else would hear it and it blocked everyone out. It also puzzled me why and how I was so good with computers and technology. I've been more then adept at hacking and modifying anything related to computers, but until the age of 10 never had much experience with them. But, my life was what it was, didn't bother me. I closed my eyes and let the music drown everything else out. I had a good half hour before class, and I wasn't at all hungry(nor could I afford the breakfast, lunch was the only free thing). But I left the left earbud out slightly, so I could be aware of my surroundings.

**(POV Change- Natsumi)**

After he gave me his answer, I realized just how much sadness was in his voice as he said the last part. Was that why he seemed so distant from everyone. Sure, he was new here, and this was his first day but nothing should've given him the kind of sadness. I blinked as he pulled out what looked like a really old pair of earbud headphones. I sighed and dug into my food, suddenly ravenous after what happened just now.

"Hey Natsumi, I believe you have something for me." I jerked upward, hearing a snobby voice say my name and instantly realizing who it was. _"Oh come on! Can't you people give me a break just once!?" _I thought angrily. I sighed miserable, and looked at the origin of the voice; Jessica Baklor.

"I don't have the money, yet and I'm sorry. I'll have it tomorrow though." I inwardly snorted at that. I **never** had the money to pay her and her cronies off. Usually they just forgot until the next month.

"**Sorry** isn't going to cut it, Sakurano. Either you have the money now, or we take some of your stuff and pawn it for the money." Jessica said, crossing her arms and smirking rudely.

"I just said, I don't have it. I'll have it tomorrow, isn't that enough!?" I said, raising my voice slightly. Bad move on my part. Her hand went to pick me up from the chair by the collor of my sweater when a pale hand appeared on her wrist, stopping it mere moments from grabbing me.

I swiftly turned my head in the direction of the arm and saw ti was, once again, Xande at my rescue.

"I don't believe she owes you anything." He muttered, glaring lightly at her. I blinked. Not one ounce of malice in his voice, yet his eyes look infuriated.

"He..hey! Release my hand this instant and mind your own damn business!" Jessica screeched, trying to wrench her arm out of his grasp. But she couldn't get his hand off. I inwardly laughed at her plight. "You don't know a thing about why she owes me money!"

He grunted and opened his mouth to speak. "Actually, I can **tell** she doesn't **owe** you anything simply from the sound of your voice. You're a money-hungry bully, and it's plainly obvious. Continue to harass this girl, and you **will **regret it." Now the last part was hilriously filled with malice. But it made me wonder why he was going out of his way to help me out. I knew from what I saw before that they wouldn't stand a chance against him. But it was his first day and he made a bad impression already with the main gang in the school.

"Who do you think you are to tell me what I can and cannot do!? I practically own this school and you won't last a day here with me as an enemy!" She yelled. I was about to laugh when I heard a loud voice shout across the cafeteria.

"Alright, break it up!" I turned towards the voice and saw Jim, the Groundskeeper. _"What great timing he always has"_ I thought sarcastically "_Always after everything's done._

Xande released his vice-like grip on Jessica's hand and went back to listening to his music.

"What's going on here!?" Jim asked, almost shouting it. Jessica glared at Xande before muttering a quick "Nothing." and stalking off. But not before dropping a note into my backpack. I sighed and said the same. Xande remained silent.

"I don't believe it, Xande. It's only your first day and you're already picking fights. I'm sorry, but I have to give you a 30 minute detention after class. That goes for you as well, Sakurano. I'll see you both in the library after classes." He scolded before walking off. I sighed then laughed as I heard Xande mutter "Stupid Oaf." under his breath. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad, but if the note said what I thought it would, today would get worse...

Well, took me a little while, but chapter 2 is now done. Hope you all enjoy and chapter 9 of XRB is coming soon as well.


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